Patti Callahan Henry has a true gift for taking historical events and bringing them to life. In The Secret Book of Flora Lea, two sisters are taken from their home and placed with another family as part of Operation Pied Piper (a real-life attempt to keep children safe in WWII). The sisters create a magical world called Whisperwood ,where they dream of safety and magic. In one tragic moment, the sisters are separated, and the oldest, Hazel, fears she will never again see her beloved younger sister Flora. As the book unfolds, Hazel finds hints of the magical world she and Flora created, and she begins a persistent journey to find out what really happened when they were children. This is a book about the power of stories and the bonds between family. The writing is beautiful, and the way that the author balances the issues of right and wrong, as well as guilt and grace during traumatic times was especially poignant for me. Highly recommend to any reader!

What a lovely book. I love love a good historical fiction and a story about family. This is one I can see myself returning to again and again.

Thank you NetGalley for providing me an arc copy.

An intersection of magic and storytelling with familial love and loss told in alternating time periods. As part of Operation Pied Piper 3 million children were evaluated from.popular centers to supposedly safer rural homes in 4 days. Trainloads of children were send to different stations and "chosen" to live with families. This is the story of Hazel and her sister, Flora Lea, their secret magical kingdom of Whisperwood and a tragic day at the river. I found myself more drawn to the latter day story when Hazel finds a book about Whisperwood, but I can imagine msny folks would be more immersed in Whisperwood.

Another 5 star book by Patti Henry!! I loved this book from beginning to end. The characters, the historical fiction, the setting, the BEAUTIFUL writing! Absolutely fantastic, and a for-sure re-read one day! Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to read and review this.

I am at a lost for words, and I hope that they are found just like Flora Lea will be. I'm searching to find the way to convey how I feel about reading this remarkable and memorable tale. The search to find the truth of the loss of Flora Lea on that October day. A mystery that unfolds while the turning of each page.

This is my sixth book by Patti Callahan Henry, and she has out done herself. I know that this is going to be one of my favorite reads this year. Every character is written so beautifully. I immensely enjoyed the duel timeline. All my emotions emerged from sadness, shock, heartache, happiness, and so much joy in the knowledge of learning what happened to Flora Lea. I highly recommend reading and having this magnificent book in your home library. This book is a keeper. I can see this being on the big screen. It played out so extraordinary in my mind. A definite 5+⭐ book. Enjoy ❤️.

Thank you so much NetGalley for allowing me to read the ebook ARC of Patti Callahan Henry's The Secret Book of Flora Lea, and Atria Books in exchange for my honest review & opinion.

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In a world of fairy tales colliding with a war-ridden reality is a mesmerizing tale of a lost child, a grieving sister and the healing power of stories, real and imagined.

The Secret Book of Flora Lea is told in a dual timeline, 1939 and 1960. In 1939, Hazel, 14 years old, and her younger sister, Flora Lea, only 5 years old, were evacuated to a small hamlet where they could be safe from the terrors of war. To assuage her young sister’s fears, Hazel would fill her days with made up stories of Whisperwood, an enchanting kingdom with a river made of stars, where they could be whatever their hearts desired and do anything they pleased. Whisperwood belonged only to them. It was their magical place, it was their secret, it was their escape from war. One day, Flora disappears when Hazel leaves her sleeping on a blanket for mere minutes and Hazel’s world falls apart.

In 1960, twenty years after Flora disappears, Hazel is working in a book shop when she comes across a picture book titled “Whisperwood and the River of Stars”. How can this be? Did Flora write this? Hazel becomes consumed with finding the author of this book and will do anything to find out more about her long lost sister.

This book is spellbinding, it’s magical, it’s superb. I fell in love with Hazel and little Flora. I never wanted it to end! Oh, what an amazing story it is.

Thank you, NetGalley and Atria Books for the advanced copy. This rates 5 stars from me, more if I could.

This book has a bit of everything to make it enjoyable for most readers. This is the story of two sisters who as children were evacuated from London due to risks relating to bombing during WWII. The two sisters use there imaginations to create a magical world which helps them survive away from their mother. Tragedy strikes when the younger sister mysteriously dispappears. Flash foward twenty years and a mysterious book sparks a quest to find the long missing sister.

Told in alternating timelines this story has a bit of romance, some mystery, and family drama. I enjoyed both timelines equally and found the details about the evacuee program "Pied Piper" fascinating. I haven't read anything by this author and will definately pick up more of her books.

“Stories and books always find their rightful owners.”

When 14-year-old Hazel and her 5-year-old sister, Flora, are evacuated to London as part of Operation Pied Piper, their idyllic life ends. Flora Lea Linden goes missing one day as she’s playing on the banks of the Thames River and her body is never found.

Twenty years later, Hazel, who works at the Rare Book Shoppe, receives a copy of a children’s book that can only be penned by her missing sister…or someone who knows her. This leads her on a journey to find out what happened to her little sister.

Henry knows how to write a compelling story that pulls on readers’ heartstrings. This survival against all odds story captivated me and reminded me about the power of literature to unite us in desperate times. I’d read about Operation Pied Piper before, but appreciated Henry’s exploration and application of the fairy-tale history. My heart ached for the Linden girls and I needed to keep reading to find out what became of Flora and if Hazel could finally put the past to rest.

I can always count on Henry’s stories to grab my heart and make me fall in love with her characters and story. This one is no different. Historical fiction lovers need this story on their TBR pile.

I was gifted this copy by Atria Books and NetGalley and was under no obligation to provide a review.

I am a big fan of Patti Callahan Henry's writing. And this is one of the best books she's written yet. It's a captivating story with wonderful characters in alternating scary and enchanted settings. I couldn't put it down. Once I started I just HAD to finish.

As an established fan of Patti Callahan Henry, I was looking forward to this book. Much like her previous book, Once Upon a Wardrobe, she crafts a story about the bond between siblings through storytelling. This tale, though, has a theme of responsibility, guilt, guardedness.
As evacuees of London in WWI, sisters Hazel and Flora are sent to the English countryside to avoid being harmed in any London bombings. The sisters are billeted with a lovely family and are happy - for a while. After Flora disappears while Hazel is exploring her newfound desire for housemate Harry, Hazel is consumed with guilt and separates herself from both the boy and the stories she believes led to her sister's disappearance.
Without giving spoilers, I will say that I did not predict the twists in the novel. The story was carefully crafted and kept me hanging on with truly no inkling of how this was going to end up. That, in my opinion, is a fantastic (and appreciated) accomplishment. Definitely recommend this story that alternates between the WWII era and the 1960's.

I can’t believe I was lucky enough to win this in a Goodreads giveaway. Thank you so much Goodreads, Patti Callahan Henry and Atria Books! 📘😍 Also thanks to the publisher via NetGalley for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review!

Excellent — a must read! I adored this wonderful, multiple-layered tale of family, first-love, loss, remorse and forgiveness that all ties into a heart-wrenching, unsolved mystery. Set in two time periods; -in the current time a mysterious book shows up at a rare book store linking our main character Hazel to her sister who for 20-years has been missing, presumed drowned at the tender age of five. Going back in time to 1940 during WWll, Britain required all children to leave the city of London naming this endeavor Operation Pied Piper. Sisters Hazel 14, and Flora 5, were evacuated to the countryside where they were chosen to live in the caring home of Mrs. Aberdeen and her son, Harry. This is when and where Hazel created the magical world of “Whisperwood” to calm her frightened little sister. This is also the year Flora disappeared on the banks of the River Thames.

Patti Callahan Henry has created a very SPECIAL story that gives her readers a phenomenal, MAGICAL escape into another era.. it’s then and now, where you will find inside these pages that the power of love IS an incredible thing. Hazel never gave up on finding Flora.. and there’s several surprising twists that bring something truly HEARTWARMING 💫 into the storyline.. even perhaps a second chance at the impossible. I’m still thinking about this book and want to read it again. I can’t recommend it enough or this author! ♥️🤩 5 stars — Pub. 5/2/23

The Secret Book of Flora Lea is a captivating historical novel about family and the love between sisters. Hazel and Flora are sent to the country due to the threat of German bombs falling on London. Hazel calms her younger sister by telling her made-up tales of a magical place called Whisperwood that only they can visit. When Flora disappears, Hazel never gives up hope of finding her sister. It is through the shimmering doorway to Whisperwood and following her heart that Hazel is finally reunited with Flora and the mystery of her disappearance is finally solved. I loved this book. This book is an excellent read: part historical novel, part mystery, and part fairy tale. Thanks to author Patti Callahan Henry, Atria Books, and NetGalley. I received a complimentary copy of this ebook. The opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.

As war rages on in, 1939, Hazel Linden’s sister vanishes. Over the years Hazel can’t fight the thought that her sister is still alive and out there somewhere. Twenty years later, Hazel comes across a book that she is confident her sister had to have had so bring to do with. Come along and follow her journey to finally finding the truth about Flora Lee.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced reading copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

I adore books that honor the power of stories and this one truly celebrates the importance of storytelling. When Hazel finds a book that contains stories she invented for herself and her sister to cope during the war, her world is sent into a tailspin because her sister has been missing over twenty years, and presumed to be dead. Hazel is determined to solve the mystery of where the book came from and holds onto a delicate hope that she might find her sister after all these years. I found this story to be as enchanting as a fairytale and recommend it highly.

Hazel can't believe it when a package she opens at the rare book store where she works tells almost the exact story about a magical land that she created to soothe her younger sister, Flora, when they were evacuated to the countryside from the London bombings in 1939. While puzzled and outraged, Hazel also feels a spark of hope that the book may lead her to find Flora, who at age 6 had vanished by a river while teenaged Hazel and her friend Harry left her alone briefly. Hazel pushes aside everything in her life to pursue the book's author and other clues in hopes of resolving the mystery and finding her sister.

The mystical land of Whisperwood is described in a bit of detail but is mostly presented as an escape and respite for the girls who sorely miss their mother. I enjoyed the story but never really engaged with Hazel, now in her late twenties. She virtually abandoned both current and past suitors, boss and coworkers, and others who had given her comfort when she needed it. I also found the book to be longer than it needed to be, with too much repetition and melodrama, but I was definitely surprised by the final twist.

My thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for the opportunity to read and provide an honest review of this book.

Twenty years ago, Hazel Mersey Linden and her little sister, Flora Lea, took part in England’s Operation Pied Piper. In September of 1939, parents sent their children to safety far from the violence of the German Blitz on London. Hazel, aged 15, creates the magical world of Whisperwood to help the much younger Flora deal with the loss and violence of war. They fill their world with beauty, imagination, endless possibilities, and hope.

But despite the government’s good intentions, some of the children never made it home. Flora Lea was one of them.

In the spring of 1960, Hazel starts her final task before taking a brief holiday and starting the job she’s always wanted at Sotheby’s Auction House. Her life falls apart when she unwraps the last package on her last day at Hogan’s Rare Book Shoppe. The package contains a first edition of a fairy tale from America and original illustrations by a famous artist. Whisperwood, the magical land she’s never shared with another soul besides Flora, stares up at her from the work table.

She can’t believe the title, Whisperwood and the River of Stars, nor the illustrations featuring two sisters in a setting that resembles Binsey, Oxfordshire, England, where Hazel and Flora went during the evacuation. The book can only mean one thing: Flora didn’t drown in the River Thames.

Hazel grabs the book and illustrations and runs to her Bloomsbury flat—the same one she shared with her parents and Flora before the war. Her impulsive action triggers a series of undoings that will forever change her life.

What I Loved About This Book

I have soft spot for sister stories, and I’ve enjoyed other books written by Patti Callahan Henry, so I decided to try this one. The story of incredible loss, childhood friendship, and learning to live again warmed my heart. Told from multiple points of view, the mystery of Flora Lea unfolds like a good British tea. Readers get caught up with Hazel’s frustration and hope as each clue reveals and unravels the fabric of Hazel’s tidy life.

The author reveals and unravels the reader’s perceptions and memories as well. Reading The Secret Book of Flora Lea brought old regrets to the surface. It also helped me reframe them and look forward with hope.

Henry's latest novel is a well-written, well-researched, moving story of family and sisterly love. This novel is historical fiction set in England. There are two timelines detailing the character's experiences as a child evacuee during the blitz on London during WWII and the character's experiences after the war. During her time living in a small village as an evacuee, the main character loses her younger sister. The guilt she experiences over this loss hangs over her as an adult. She discovers a book containing stories that she made up for her little sister and begins a quest to discover whether her sister might still be alive.

This is an enchanting story of two sisters and the imaginary world they step into to evade the harsh reality of their lives during WWII. It is a dual timeline book, going back and forth between the war and 15 years after it ends. In 1960 the protagonist, Hazel, is still struggling to accept the loss of her younger sister, Flora, who disappeared and was presumed drowned in the Thames at age 6. But Hazel has never truly accepted that Flora could be dead, and when a book arrives at the store where she works, a book that tells the story of the imaginary world she made up for Hazel, she attempts to solve the mystery of Flora’s disappearance once and for all. I loved this story. Patti Callahan brings to life the settings of Oxfordshire and London, and the challenges of the war, in this captivating and charming novel. It is a book about family, imagination, love and loss. Thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the opportunity to review this book.

Not very long ago and not very far away, Patti Callahan Henry crafted yet another beautiful story, The Secret Book of Flora Lea. Woven together like spun gold, the sweetest fairy tale and years of mystery become a remarkable piece of historical fiction. Characters have been well crafted, so as to guide the story without a hint at plot twists. A gifted writer, Patti Callahan Henry never disappoints the reader. The ability to speak to the soul is a gift, each book that is opened is precious and its story never ending. Highly recommended!

This author has an amazing gift of storytelling and I have been fascinated with her stories in the past. This story didn't capture me as much as some of the other ones did. I enjoyed the way the story ended but it seemed to take a while to get there. My favorite characters were Harry and Kelty.


Thanks so much to netgalley and the publisher for the arc. The opinions are my own.